


A Government of Wolves

by owlways_and_forever



Series: When Eagles Fall Silent [14]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cedric Diggory Dies, Censorship, Daily Prophet, Government Censorship, Triwizard Tournament, newsroom, third task
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27788119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlways_and_forever/pseuds/owlways_and_forever
Summary: When a big story breaks in the newsroom, it doesn't always go according to plan.
Series: When Eagles Fall Silent [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029726





	A Government of Wolves

Tom Criquetter had a fantastic name for journalism - it was easy to pronounce, but memorable, and all in all sounded _very_ English. And importantly, there was a story behind it, which had trained him in the art of storytelling from the age of three (precisely). So it had been no surprise to anyone when Tom had joined the Hogwarts Mirror, the student run newspaper, or when he became the youngest editor ever as a fifth year. Tom was, without question, a fantastic writer, and when he finished his NEWTs, he was immediately snapped up by the Daily Prophet for a staff writing position. In little time at all, he rose through the ranks, until he was a junior editor, in charge of the feature pieces. He worked with a good staff and liked everyone else. Barnabas Cuffe ran the paper as a whole - a good man, if a little preoccupied with connecting to people he deemed of great import. Sally Hensforth ran the sports section, Mertin Lee ran the Arts & Entertainment section, and Rita Skeeter - the bane of Tom’s existence - had control over the Social section. But for the most part, it was a good team, and Tom enjoyed his job.

On Tom’s thirty-third birthday, however, things changed. He had been out to dinner with his wife when an owl had arrived at their table, dropping a hastily-written note before flying off. Sally had been covering the finale of the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts for the next day’s edition, and at first Tom thought that she might be asking for help getting her article finished in time. Instead, he found several words which were most alarming.

_Cedric Diggory is dead. Potter says You-Know-Who is back._

There was nothing else to the note, but Tom didn’t need any other information to know that this would need urgent attention. He made his excuses to his wife, but she was used to it and didn’t mind in the least, and then stepped out into the alleyway to Apparate to Hogsmeade. It took Tom two hours of interviewing to feel like he’d gotten a solid grip on the events of the night. After he had collected all the information he needed, Tom left the school so that they could mourn privately, and so that he could write his article. Apparating back to the newsroom, he immediately hunched over his desk, furiously scratching words onto the parchment in front of him.

Tom made his way to the editor’s table to put the finishing pieces on his section so the layout could be sent to the printing press. He was nearly finished when Barnabas Cuffe walked in followed by the Minister for Magic, much to Tom’s surprise.

“I’d like to read your article about the Tournament,” the Minister asked, without pleasantries. 

“Of course,” Tom conceded, sliding the parchment across the table. 

The Minister’s eyes skated over the words Tom had written, and he felt a sense of uneasiness creep over him. Cornelius Fudge had never before visited the newsroom to check on an article, let alone so close to the print deadline.

“I’m rather surprised, Mr. Criquetter,” Fudge began. “Mr. Cuffe had led me to believe that your were a journalist with more integrity than this.”

“I’m sorry, Minister, I’m not sure what you mean,” Tom said, befuddled beyond measure.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, it’s rather unlike you to report such baseless rumours.”

“With all due respect, Minister, I did a great deal of interviewing, and there’s nothing in that article that is unfounded,” Tom argued, feeling rather defensive.

“It’s a pack of lies!” Fudge hissed, his round cheeks turning a ruddy color.

“I spoke with Dumbledore, with Potter, even with Crouch!” 

“Barty Crouch Jr is obviously very ill, and Potter has been known to make up stories,” Fudge insisted.

“Potter was the only eye witness that we know of to what happened in that graveyard!” Tom disputed. “His story makes perfect sense! How do you think the Diggory boy died?”

“It was a tragic accident!” Fudge spluttered, pulling the bowler hat from his head and toying with it agitatedly.

“It was murder!”

“Tom -” Cuffe interjected, his tone stern and commanding, something extremely out of character for the genial, laid-back editor. “The Daily Prophet will not be publishing any articles claiming that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is back without irrefutable evidence.”

“You can’t be serious,” Tom gasped, noticing the self-satisfied grin that settled on the Minister’s face. It was clear that this policy was a directive issued from Fudge himself.

“It is not your place to question either myself or Mr. Cuffe,” Fudge admonished, replacing his bowler hat.

“I will not be part of defrauding the public,” Tom insisted, squaring his shoulders and though he was readying himself for battle. “If you want to report this as anything other than a murder by Lord Voldemort, you’ll need to find yourself a new Features Editor.”

“I’m sorry that it has to be this way, Tom,” Barnabas sighed, utterly defeated. “I expect your desk to be cleaned out by the end of the day tomorrow.”

Without so much as another word, Cornelius Fudge turned on his heel and strode from the newsroom, Barnabas following close behind.

Swearing under his breath, Tom crumpled the parchment on the desk in front of him. He couldn’t believe that the Minister could act in such a way, that he could so completely ignore all the facts that were laid out so clearly in front of him. Even more astonishing was that Barnabas would go along with it. With a swift motion, Tom swept from the room, his coattails billowing out behind him, and he stepped out into the night air. He needed a walk home to clear his mind, and figure out what to do next. It wasn’t exactly a good time to be out of a job. But even so, it was better to be unemployed than to be complicit in corruption, spewing propaganda, and misleading the public instead of exposing the truth.

**Author's Note:**

> HP Houses Challenge, Year 5
> 
> Round 3 Drabble  
> Prompt: [Setting] Newsroom


End file.
